We Always Return to the Sea
by brokenbottleaurora
Summary: "The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." ― Jacques Cousteau


**MC4A Challenge Block:**

 **Stacked With:** Romance Challenge; Fem Power Challenge; By Any Other Name; Terms of Service; Paranormal Phantasm; Shadows of Consequence; Yellow Ribbon; Ravenclaw MC 2; In a Flash

 **Representations:** Bill/Fleur Weasley; Luna Lovegood; Weasley Clan and Lovegoods; Bill the Builder; Magic; Second Wizarding War

 **Bonus Challenges** : Gingersnap; Sneeze Weasel; Second Verse (Not a Lamp; Some Beach; Mermaid; Most Human Bean); YR (N); RMC2 (Y); IAF (Y)

 **Warnings:** Referenced canon character death

 **The Houses Competition, Term 04**

 **Hufflepuff**

 **Pre-Round Challenge**

 **Prompt: Kuro (Character- Luna Lovegood)**

 _For Kuro- I recognize that there are probably a few plot holes in here, but I hope you enjoy it just the same._

We Always Return to the Sea

 _"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever."_

 _Jacques Cousteau_

Luna finished sending the lunch dishes back to their cabinets and wiped at a phantom dirt spot with a dish towel. She glanced around at the freshly scrubbed floor, gleaming cabinets, and sparkling windows and then threw the towel down in disgust. She'd only been working for half the day and already there was nothing else to do!

With a sigh, she brewed herself a quick cup of tea. She supposed she could wander around and look for someone to talk to. But Ollivander, by far the most interesting occupant of the house, still spent most of the day sleeping – it was a miracle he'd survived that long in the Malfoy cellar with two broken legs and a terrible case of pneumonia. Fleur devoted most of her day to tending to him. When he wasn't away, Bill mostly tinkered about the house, adjusting the wards and trying to keep up with every play of the war. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, as much as she wanted to catch up with them, spent nearly every minute of the day holed up in the spare bedroom with Griphook. Dean was pleasant enough to talk to, but he clearly thought her ideas about rare animals and clandestine political machinations were absurd. _He'll come around in time_ , she mused. But for the greatest portion of her day, she had _nothing_ to do.

So Luna tried to pass her days by being helpful – cleaning anything that would hold still long enough, mending anything that was broken, starting a small garden in the side yard. She'd even tried baking, but her muffins were completely inedible, even for Ron. When that was all said and done, she tried to read books from the Weasleys' library. During the past two weeks she had exhausted every book that was on her level of understanding. She supposed she could start reading through some advanced runic theory that she didn't really understand, but it was bound to give her a terrible headache.

With a sigh, Luna grabbed her mug and headed out to the back patio. She typically avoided lingering there – it was too easy for her eyes to slide over to the tiny headstone over the still-fresh grave. Today, however, she would try again. She wouldn't let the unchangeable sadness of the past rob her of this gorgeous day.

Settling down in a padded chair, Luna gazed out over the landscape, carefully avoiding what she didn't want to see. It was easy to appreciate the view – rough cliffs falling away to golden sand, the turquoise water stretching out as far as she could see, broken only occasionally by white seafoam lapping against weathered rock. Luna brushed a breeze-tossed strand of hair behind her ear and inhaled deeply, savoring the way the clean salt air soothed her.

"It's one of my favorite views in the world," came a soft voice from behind her.

Luna whipped around, the new wand Ollivander had just finished leveled at Bill Weasley's throat.

"I'm so sorry, Bill. I suppose I'm still a bit on edge," she apologized, flushing and quickly stowing her wand.

Bill grinned, dropping into the other chair. "Completely understandable. I just thought I'd join you for a bit. Beautiful, isn't it?"

Luna nodded. "I haven't been to the sea in years, but it's just as I remembered it. We went every summer, just the three of us for a whole month. But since Mum died, Daddy's been too sad to come back. He said it makes him think of her and how happy we were together."

After a long moment, he replied, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It doesn't bother me so much anymore," Luna murmured, gazing back to the water. "It's hard for Daddy to think of Mum. But I have missed the sea terribly. Mum and I would play in it for hours, and we always wandered far deeper than Daddy was comfortable with. But I was never afraid of it, you know? We would think up all the wonderful, beautiful things that might be out there, just waiting to be discovered."

With that, the two sank into a comfortable silence. They sat for what could have been minutes or years, listening to the soft whistling breeze over the rhythm of the surf crashing against the rocks. As the sun sank lower on the horizon, the sea glittered white, then silver, and then gold. Luna could feel the pull of the tide on her very soul. Some things never changed.

Eventually, the back door clanged open. "Come on in, you two, it's almost dinner," Dean called through the screen.

Bill and Luna rose, their golden moment broken. Luna shot one last wistful glance at the water before heading inside.

"Tell Fleur I'll be right there!" Bill cried as he wandered toward the edge of the property.

After three more days of monotony, Luna had just sat down with an advanced rune theory book when Fleur knocked on the door to the library.

"Luna? Bill and I have something we wish to show you," she said. "Please, come with me."

Luna followed her hostess out the backdoor to where Bill stood at the edge of the cliff, looking rather pleased with himself.

"Ta-da!" Bill exclaimed, gesturing toward a wooden railing that wasn't there a few days ago.

As she got closer, Luna saw that the railing was a handrail attached to a set of stairs that wound down the cliffs, ending on the beach.

"For me?" Luna whispered.

"Of course!" Fleur insisted. "You've done so very much to help us since you arrived. It was the least we could do for a friend. Of course, Bill did all the actual construction—"

"But we both worked on the wards," Bill continued. "It took some finagling, but we've got a pretty solid ley line that runs about a kilometer into the water. Outside of that, we figured you could always Apparate yourself back if you got into trouble."

Luna gaped at her two friends. "This is just too much…"

"Nonsense!" Fleur cried. "Now just go enjoy yourself!" And with that she flounced back to the cottage.

"Explore to your heart's content, Luna. Find us something beautiful," Bill said before following his wife.

With a grin, Luna flew down the stairs and splashed into the surf, her heart soaring at the memories that came flooding back. It was the most beautiful thing she'd felt in a long time.


End file.
